July 9 day of mourning in Russia over Krasnodar territory floods victims

National flags will fly at half-mast all across the country and on the buildings of Russian embassies and legations abroad

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Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, July 9 (Itar-Tass) – Monday, July 9 is a day of national mourning in Russia following the tragic consequences of unprecedented floods in the southern Krasnodar territory and a road accident in Ukraine that left fourteen Russian pilgrims killed.

National flags will fly at half-mast all across the country and on the buildings of Russian embassies and legations abroad.

A decree issued by President Vladimir Putin contains a recommendation to performing companies, as well as radio stations and TV channels to refrain from demonstrating and/or broadcasting floor shows.

The Krasnodar territory, one of the most vital areas of Russia encompassing the bread-basket districts in the Kuban River basin and the entire Russian section of the Black Sea coastline, is mourning over the death of 171 people in what can rightfully be called the most severe flood in local history.

Even the devastating natural calamities that pounded the area in 2002 do not stand a comparison with the deluge, which poured down on it Friday.

Streams of water from mountainous areas first flooded the city of Gelendzhik. Hours later, the situation was repeated in the major port city of Novorossiysk and in the town of Krymsk.

Most of the 171 people who died as a result of the calamity are the residents of Krymsk. A number of them were buried Sunday.

President Putin made a trip to the disaster areas and held a conference there, in the course of which a decision was taken to build new houses for everyone who lost their housing due to the disaster.

Emergency allowances will be paid out from the Krasnodar territory budget to all the survivors. Also the regional authorities will pay out financial aid of 50,000 rubles to each person affected and the federal government will pay100,000 rubles /USD 1=RUB 32.0/

The families of the dead will be paid a million rubles from the federal budget and a million rubles from the territorial budget.

A criminal case has been instituted over amassed deaths of people. It cites the article of the Criminal Code that envisions punishment for infliction of death on two or more individuals through recklessness.

One more tragedy occurred Saturday when a Neoplan bus carrying a group of pilgrims from the northwest town of Velikiye Luki to the Pochayev convent in western Ukraine veered into the oncoming lane and flipped over on an automobile road linking the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigov and Kiev.

Early information indicates that the driver had encroached on road safety regulations.

The accident claimed the lives of fourteen people and left another 29 people injured. Some of the latter were transported for treatment to Moscow and others, to the northwest city of Pskov where from the pilgrimage group had started out on the tragic tour.

Upon the decision of the Pskov region Governor Andrei Turchak, the region will have three days of mourning as of July 9.